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August 2010 Another Jamieson Adventure

The police man stepped on to the road and pulled us over.   We were just outside Merrijig with 5 kayaks on the roof and 6 people in the car, Paul, Anthony, Mark, Brandon, me and Rod (our fabulous shuttle bunny).   The conversation between Paul and the policeman went something like this.

Paul, “Is this a breath test?”
Policeman, “No, you were doing 95 in an 80 zone.”
Paul, “You were the one who got me here last time. When I lost my licence for 6 months.”
Policeman, “No, but you don’t learn do you?”
Paul, “Yes I do.  I was doing 45 ks less this time!”

This was the start of our Jamieson Adventure!

From Merrijig we headed into the Howqua valley and then up Brocks Road.   Not far up the road the snow appeared.   As we continued the snow got deeper and there were numerous trees down across the road.   Fortunately the hunters had already been through with their four wheel drives and chainsaws.   Even so it was slow going and at one point Anthony had to stand on the bonnet to push branches over the kayaks.   The further we drove the higher Rod’s stress levels were as he knew he was going to have to drive back along the same road.



Eventually we were over the gap and down the other side to the Jamieson River.   It had taken us longer than planned and we had a long paddle ahead of us.   Paul and Anthony fitted the chains to the car for Rod and he headed off on his trip back to Mansfield.   We took to our boats and headed off down the river, each heading towards our own adventure.



Within sight of the get in we struck our first log.   Just to demonstrate the danger of logs I went for the eddy immediately above the log, struck a ‘keeper’ rock, preventing entry to the eddy and bounced across and into the log.   I was quickly upside down and under the log.   Not a good start.

The river was definitely up from last year (2.2 m @ Jamieson) and we were making good progress down the bouncy river.   The first gorge was great fun with a series of good rapids through moss and fern covered banks.   But soon the gradient eased and the logs multiplied.   I don’t think I’ve ever portaged so many logs before.   We would clear one and paddle around the next bend only to see another one waiting for us.

Meanwhile Rod was having an adventure of his own.   With chains only on the front wheels he found the back wheels were sliding around in the snow making it difficult to stay in the tracks and line up the numerous logs.   Not far from the top of the gap in the deepest snow he slid out of the tracks and the wheels spun in the snow.   He was stuck and in someone else’s car.   It took him an hour and a half to dig all the wheels out with a plastic lid and log.   It was 3 p.m. before he got to the rendezvous spot near Mansfield, after more hassles removing the chains and finding out how to open the petrol flap.

Back on the river the late start and the numerous portages were eating into our time.   We had a quick lunch and continued on.   We still had the biggest rapids to go in the second gorge.

Finally after 4 p.m. we reached the second gorge and started working our way down.   The additional flow made the rapids more pushy and the eddies more swirly.   Brandon swam in the first good rapid.   He was now on river right and his boat was wedged against a large log on river left.   Anthony and Mark paddled across to have a look.   The large log had actually created an eddy.   They were able to empty the boat and we roped it back across to Brandon.   With Brandon back in his boat we continued down the next rapid.

It was near the start of the last long rapid that Brandon had another swim after pinning his boat.   This time the boat sailed down the rapid.   Brandon got down the rapid by being roped across a couple of sections, scrambling over rocks and a bit of swimming.   Finally we were all down the bottom of the gorge.   And there was Brandon’s boat waiting patiently in an eddy.   What a boat!

There was only a k of easy water to Wren’s Flat, our camping spot.   We arrived there at 5.50 p.m.   After building a fire our change of clothes, camping gear and food arrived, in the form of Peter.   He had collected Paul’s car from Rod and driven in to Wren’s flat.   He’d also found deep snow and lots of trees down.   At one point he’d had to take his boat off the roof to get under a log.

Day 2 and the next section, Wren’s Flat to the Jamieson gauge.   The logistical exercise continued with Peter paddling and Anthony driving Paul’s car to the get out.   The river was still running high and we were looking forward to a fast trip with some fun in the gorge.   Paul, Mark, Brandon, Peter and I set off.   The sun was shining and the river was running.   Every stream, waterfall, watercourse was pumping.   Fun wave trains were formed and the only inconvenience was the odd log.

As we reached the gorge the gradient increased and the size and frequency of the rapids with it.   Unfortunately Brandon went for a swim early in the gorge and his boat sailed on without him.   He had no option but to walk along the side of the gorge, hoping his boat was waiting for him.

At the rapid immediately before Washing Machine rapid, Peter skyrocketed his boat and was quickly upside down and thrown into the wall.   Not an easy place to roll.   Now we had two boats heading down the river and Peter stuck against the wall, held by the eddy.   Fortunately Brandon was able to help him from above and he managed to climb out of his predicament.  



Brandon and Peter continued walking along the side of the gorge while we paddled the Washing Machine Rapid (great fun) and went in search of the missing boats.   A few hundred metres below we found Brandon’s boat in an eddy.   This was one ‘homing pigeon’ of a boat.   Unfortunately Peter’s boat was nowhere to be seen.

Peter’s best option was to walk out, back to Wren’s Flat, while we continued down the river, looking for the boat as we went.

About another k down the river we found Peter’s boat, beached on an island above a large log portage.   We recovered Peter’s gear and most importantly the club’s EPIRB, marked the spot with the GPS and continued on.

The rest of the trip became a bit of a slog as we had a long way to go and had lost a fair bit of time.   Meanwhile Peter made his way to a hut on the river bank and from there along a track to Wren’s flat.   At Wren’s flat he came across the caretaker of the mining camp.   Apparently the caretaker’s main task was to drink beer all weekend, which he was diligently doing.   He did however take Peter to Jamieson, consuming 3 cans of beer on the way!

We were certainly pleased to see Peter’s smiling face when we finished and he was equally pleased to hear we’d found his boat.   Now if you’re interested in being a shuttle bunny for next year’s Jamieson Adventure, just give Anthony a call!

Check out some footage from the trip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBmT0jEKoDo

Alison